Income requirements for pensionado

Sorry, but it requires at least $1000 per month of a 'guaranteed for life' pension. Yes, the socialized medical system will cover you at a cost determined by your declared pension, once you have received your cedula. Gaining Temporary residency status can take a year or more.

FYI, the title refers to Pensionado but the first sentence refers to Rentista.  $1000 applies to Pensionado and $2500 applies to Rentista.  Investment income does not count since is it not guaranteed.  You could purchase a lifetime annuity to fill the gap.

If you're at $950 you could just work for 6 more months or so and get it up to $1k I think. Or you could figure out a way to make your investments a permanent life long annuity I think.
I'd speak with a residency attorney to see if they can help you figure out a way.

Does receipt of permanent disability from social security in the states qualify one for Pensionado? Next question: does one need to do something like establishing wire transfers of those funds when re-locating to CR?
Mostly I am concerned about how one establishes themselves in CR as a pensionado and manages their income from social security from the USA. How does that all work? Does the US government stop benefits from SSI if one is living in CR and they find out?
Any Help would be greatly appreciated!

You will need documentation that you have $1000.00 per month income for LIFE.  However you do that is up to you and subject to immigration's interpretation.  I cannot help you with the USA question.
Cheers .... Terry

You are perfectly allowed to legally receive your pensions and allowances here in CR.
BUT I have been a  permenant resident here 25 years nand seen laws change Back and forth SO THINGS MAY CHANGE  depending who is our next President and we are in an election year.. You should WAIT until US CITIZENS respond IF they have latest personal experience BUT Embassy is the best advisor,, ( I am Both a British AND a USA Citizen (I could also get a Costa Rican Passport BUT 2 is  enough 
Obviously Canadians do not know what  allowed  for US Citizens...
I moved from the USA 25 years ago BUT  as O said THINGS HERE are apt to change, and those type of questions are better answered by the AMERICAN EMBASSY

We here can only give opinions  and personal experiences .
I would NEVER offer legal advice.  but  don't shiver in terror when you here an opinion from ANYBODY on this site , including me... .There ARE still people legally living  here on less than $1000  because the law   changed not long go from $800 to $1000 which means some are still  legal resident/pensinados receiving less  legally.
BUT now you can not open a bank account as we could in prior years.
BUT that is not to say that also  may not be changed back..we are in a 3rd world country and it depends on the whims of local government in power at the time.
v So I urge you at the time you are thinking of moving here to MAKE a PHONE CALL to your EMBASSY  or if here,  go visit the dept of SS at the Embassy THEY will give you the "Rule of the Time "
AND we are in an election year so WHO knows  what the future holds?
You MAY have to be a resident  to have it sent to a local bank,  because they send your SS check directly to your bank account here ....A few years ago anyone could open a bank account.
That was changed when we got a new President..so things are subject to changes . Good Luck

In order to work Legally you need a work permit HARD to get as most jobs can be filled by Costa Ricans,,,,So CALL the EMBASSY for these questions and as I said after living here 25 years in this 3rd world country I have seen laws CHANGE  back and forth, according to who is president  so you see NOTHING is for LIFE .
At the time you intend moving here, first ask the  US EMBASSY or you may get very different answers here from some, not even US Citizens  ...  very confusing..so make a phone call NO need to hide anything.

It was recently announced that a non-resident  can now open a bank account at the BCR,  much easier than it has been for the past few years ...but  your pension/SS payments does NOT have to be deposited in a Costa Rican bank.   


It depends on what type of SSI you receive. Check it out here

info on applying for residency check here Expect to pay approx $2000. It could take a year or more.

Medicare cannot be used outside of the USA.

BTW, the Pensionado financial requirement was never US$800, but it went from $600 to $1000 per month.

Just noticed I didn't add the link regarding the new banking info, sohere it is.

Thanks for your reply and for the links! I have already found a lot more answers that are particularly helpful via the SSI link. Even located a local attorney who specializes in these matters.
Cheers!
~Kat

***
*** I presume your "information " you received is for the now much critized Canadian company CCCR (? )  that nabs Newcomers in order to promise them residency and many other things  which often are never delivered to MANY people I know over the years.
***

I do not seem to be able tp edit my post HELP  have we been taken over by Aliens or?
MY typos were Fooy=FOOT amd o meant the infamous Canadian group called ARCR (Before paying them ANY money BEWARE

Yikes. I think someone has had too much coffee. The links provided by Kohlerias were helpful. I don't know if Kohlerias is a Canadian and it doesn't matter. The links were appropriate and helpful, as was the advice by Pebs to seek further clarification from the US embassy. Thanks to all for your advice!

kohlerias wrote:

Just noticed I didn't add the link regarding the new banking info, sohere it is.

Is it allowable to open one with BCR AND one with another bank such as Scotia or Davivienda?
I should now be able to open one with my comprobante, but would be nice to have a BCR one too just in case. One thing BCR used to provide is an affordable safe deposit box. Not sure if they still do, for account holders...?

I don't see why opening another bank account  would be a problem.

Not all branches have safety deposit boxes.

Additional article today regarding opening a BCR account

kohlerias wrote:

Additional article today regarding opening a BCR account

Read the comments under there.
One thing is that if you open an account at any bank in Costa Rica you do have to report it to the IRS or open yourself up to major penalties , not like the old days when banking in cr was anonymous with a corporation. At least that's what I have heard...

My Bank Manager at BCR says they do not give out Bank information ..So go figure? Where did you hear from?

pebs wrote:

My Bank Manager at BCR says they do not give out Bank information ..So go figure? Where did you hear from?

There seem to be some changes in the wind so I don't know for sure. But as far as I know Costa Rica has signed up to enforce the FATCA laws which requires them to report bank accounts of Americans to the IRS. That is my understanding. If someone has info to the contrary I'd love to read it.

Despite whether they report or not FATCA requires US citizens to report foreign bank accounts and not doing so opens you up to possible MAJOR - like $10k - penalties for each year not reported. Now, will the us guv find out about everyone's  Costa Rica account? I don't know.

Reporting your Bank account info.

kohlerias wrote:

Reporting your Bank account info.

Good link, thanks!
Here's part of what it says:
"Who is required to report their foreign accounts to the government, and how do they do so? The Bank Secrecy Act requires U.S. persons who own a foreign bank account, brokerage account, mutual fund, unit trust, or other financial account to file a Form TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Authority (FBAR), if:

    The person has financial interest in, signature authority, or other authority over one or more accounts in a foreign country, and
    The aggregate value of all foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year."

I thought everyone had to file it, even if the foreign bank account(s) had less than $10k assets.

Now, can someone tell us, to the best of his/her knowledge, do you have to report foreign accounts to the IRS as well? Luckily I don't have a foreign bank account but if and when I do I want to know what /how/to whom I have to report it.

You do have to report foreign financial accounts (e.g. bank accounts) as well as financial assets such as ownership of a foreign corporation that owns foreign property to the IRS on Forms 8938 and 5471.  The thresholds are much higher than for FBAR (now using FinCEN Form 114).  I suggest looking these Forms up on the IRS website (www.irs.gov) as thresholds vary for various factors.